5 Must-Read Facts on New York Times Reporter Ali Watkins

The Department of Justice announced Thursday the indictment of Senate Intelligence Committee veteran James Wolfe, accused of making false statements about transmitting classified information to reporters such as then-Buzzfeed News turned New York Times reporter Ali Watkins. Below are five must-read facts about Ali Watkins: #1: The Justice Department seized Watkins’ phone and email records in its pursuit to identify leakers As part of the Justice Department’s crackdown on unauthorized leaks, Watkins’ phone and email records were turned over to federal investigators, according to the New York Times. Court documents say the national security reporter was made aware February 13 that Justice Department officials obtained “years of records for two email accounts and a phone number of hers,” in relation to its ongoing probe of James A. Wolfe. #2: Watkins played a key role in breaking a bombshell report on the CIA’s Secret Detention Program While only a senior studying journalism at Temple University, Watkins helped uncover shocking details related to the CIA’s secret detention and interrogation program. According to the story, the CIA monitored computers used by Senate aides to prepare the 6,300-page study that reportedly included waterboarding, and other interrogation methods. “Congressional aides involved in preparing the Senate Intelligence Committee’s unreleased study of the CIA’s secret interrogation and detention program walked out of one of the spy agency’s top-secret facility with classified documents that the CIA contended they weren’t authorized to have,” reported McClatchy. #3: The reporter has worked at several mainstream media news outlets After graduating college, Watkin was hired at McClatchy as a national security… [Read full story]